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Vice President Cheney was shuttled into a bomb shelter at a U.S. military base in Afghanistan this morning after a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the main gate in an attack Taliban officials say was aimed at the vice president.

Cheney was uninjured and in no real danger from the blast, which killed at least four people, including a U.S. soldier, at the gate of the Bagram Airfield.

Although the vice president heard what he described as a "loud boom" at around 10 a.m. Afghan time, the explosion occurred far from the building where Cheney had spent the night in advance of a meeting with Afghan President Hamad Karzai.

But coming near the end of an unannounced trip whose itinerary was closely guarded, the incident highlighted some of the same concerns about resurgent Taliban activity that Cheney had traveled to the region to address.

Speaking about the incident en route to Oman following a two-hour meeting with Karzai, Cheney said the attack was meant as a blow against the Afghan president but would "not affect our behavior."

Cheney said he was in the bomb shelter for only "a short period of time," did not feel threatened, and had not considered canceling his meeting with Karzai.

"I think they clearly try to find ways to question the authority of the central government," Cheney said. "Striking at the Bagram [base] with a suicide bomber, I suppose, is one way to do that."

Army Lt. Col. James E. Bonner, the base operations commander, said the bomber approached the gate and "when he realized he would not be able to get onto the base, he attacked the local population." In addition to the U.S. soldier, another coalition soldier and a U.S. government contract employee died in the attack along with the bomber, the commander said. Another 27 people were wounded.

News service reports, relying on local officials, reported more than 20 people were killed.

Cheney, on an Asia trip that included stops in Japan and Australia, was not originally scheduled to spend the night in Afghanistan. He arrived there Monday following a meeting in Pakistan with President Pervez Musharraf and was scheduled to meet that same day with Karzai. Because of security concerns his presence in the region had been kept under wraps until after he was leaving Pakistan.

However, his meeting with Karzai was delayed when a snowstorm left him unable to make the roughly 20 minute-flight from the Bagram base to Kabul, and the vice president stayed the night.

The Reuters news service reported that Taliban spokesman Mullah Hayat Khan took credit for organizing the quick attack.

"We wanted to target . . . Cheney," Khan said, the wire service reported, adding that he spoke by phone from an undisclosed location.

On the flight leaving the country, a senior administration official, who insisted on anonymity, said Cheney had come to Pakistan and Afghanistan at President Bush's request because of "the continuing threat that exists in this part of the world" -- a threat exemplified by Tuesday's bombing.

Taliban fighters are thought to be regrouping along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and leaders of the militant religious group have threatened a bloody spring offensive.

Around 47,000 coalition troops, including 27,000 U.S. soldiers, remain in Afghanistan following the 2001 invasion of the country.

U.S. officials have become increasingly concerned about the Taliban's resurgence and the reappearance of possible terrorist training operations in the border area.

In a meeting with Musharraf on Monday, Cheney urged tougher action in rural border areas, a message repeated to Karzai.

The administration official said the meeting was not scheduled to "beat up" on the Afghan president, but to coordinate ideas about confronting the Taliban.

The official said that Karzai was "upbeat," but relayed comments from Afghan tribal leaders skeptical about U.S. commitment to the country -- a concern deepened, the official said, by Democratic talk of a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq.

"They worry about that," the official said. "If they see weakness on the part of the U.S. . . . they worry about our commitment."

Democratic leaders have not pushed for a withdrawal from Afghanistan, a conflict they view as more directly tied to the 2001 terrorist attacks against New York and Washington because of al-Qaeda's once well-organized training operation there and close relationship with the Taliban.

I suppose the joke could be made, do we treat them as terrorists or liberators, but I am going to take the high road and not go down that path. Personally it was a tactical fiasco for the Taliban, but Politically and from the view of Public Relations it was a total success. Not only did they show that once again the Bush Camp's flapping lips spew nothing but hot steaming piles of crap, but it also showed that they are still a viable threat and will continue to strike at their enemies leaders.

Motto:"AnTagony IS the PitS. MoVe ALonG WoRMs. THis WarS NOT gOnNa WIN iTSelf!"

Weapon: Front-Mounted Anti-Matter Projector

It also shows there may be some kind of leak in the base since the visit was reported this morning as unannounced. Cheney's not the nicest guy, and I'm not an elephant but I don't cheer for the assassination of an elected official. We're supposed to want this thing to end, not escalate.

Counterpunch wrote:They didn't technically target Cheney per se from what I heard on NPR this morning.

Perhapse they were planing to do it anyway, and when they heard Cheney was at the base decided to say it was an assasination attempt, so that they could go on about how Americas leaders are not safe from their wrath. After all, a failed assasination attempt sounds better than "Chaney was in there? Really? damn!"

As much as I despise Cheney, him dying in an horrific suicide bombing assassination will only do more harm than good. It will just be further fodder for more U.S. involvement in the Middle East, and possibly be the push Bush needs to send over the amount of troops into Iraq he had originally hoped for.

Flamemaster Galvatron wrote:As much as I despise Cheney, him dying in an horrific suicide bombing assassination will only do more harm than good. It will just be further fodder for more U.S. involvement in the Middle East, and possibly be the push Bush needs to send over the amount of troops into Iraq he had originally hoped for.

Maybe some of you folks should be rooting against the guys who are blowing up innocent Afghans and targetting elected officials...if this was happening in your home town you wouldn't be so flippant about it. You may not like Cheney but he's a democrat and he's doing his best to protect the republic, whereas the terrorists killing women and kids at random are truly evil scumbags.

Mechanurgist wrote:Maybe some of you folks should be rooting against the guys who are blowing up innocent Afghans and targetting elected officials...if this was happening in your home town you wouldn't be so flippant about it. You may not like Cheney but he's a democrat and he's doing his best to protect the republic, whereas the terrorists killing women and kids at random are truly evil scumbags.

A) He is no Democrat, he is a pure Republican. the Prince of Darkness, Duke of Destruction the list goes on and on regarding how bad this guy is.

I have no respect for those sorts of people that target innocent non combatants in their religious wars, and I have about the same level of respect for Penguin.

Flamemaster Galvatron wrote:As much as I despise Cheney, him dying in an horrific suicide bombing assassination will only do more harm than good. It will just be further fodder for more U.S. involvement in the Middle East, and possibly be the push Bush needs to send over the amount of troops into Iraq he had originally hoped for.

You say that as if they wouldn't do that anyway without the excuse.

Considering that congress currently is controlled by the Democrats and there being a strong opposition against it, as well as the plan seeming somewhat stalled at the moment, it would seem quite the contrary.

Alpha Strike wrote:A) He is no Democrat, he is a pure Republican. the Prince of Darkness, Duke of Destruction the list goes on and on regarding how bad this guy is.

You did notice the lower-case 'd', didn't you? As for "Prince of Darkness [...]", I hope that was tongue-in-cheek, otherwise you need to spend less time on transfan boards and more time in the real world. Much as people love to bash the other side in partisan hate-fests, Democrats and Republicans are all democrats, and Islamists are all our enemies. It's not the other political party that is the threat, it's the guys who want to destroy every political party and replace it with a theocracy. Remember that.

Alpha Strike wrote:A) He is no Democrat, he is a pure Republican. the Prince of Darkness, Duke of Destruction the list goes on and on regarding how bad this guy is.

You did notice the lower-case 'd', didn't you? As for "Prince of Darkness [...]", I hope that was tongue-in-cheek, otherwise you need to spend less time on transfan boards and more time in the real world. Much as people love to bash the other side in partisan hate-fests, Democrats and Republicans are all democrats, and Islamists are all our enemies. It's not the other political party that is the threat, it's the guys who want to destroy every political party and replace it with a theocracy. Remember that.

Most of what I say politically is tounge in cheek when it comes to titles such as that. Chaney isn't exactly the democraticly elected official that he thinks he is. He and his partner were appointed and have manuvered many things to remain in power for profit. And I'd rag on a Democrat if they pulled the same stunts as have been forced upon the US and indeed the world over the past 6 years. I have little respect for people who violate the US constitution that are actually in positions to enforce it. Islamists are not our enemies, lets get that out there at this point. The Extreme views of Islam, indeed the real extreme view... fring bordering on whako views are the bad guys. And its not just Islamic Fundamentalists who do not have any sort of tolerence towards anyone who thinks differently, its Christian Fundamentalists, Jewish Fundamentalists... indeed Fundamentalism in general is our greatest foe.

Im quite suprised by the utter hatred some of you have. To wish death on people is quite amazing. I hate Nancy Palosi, Harry Reed, John Murtha, Hilary Clinton and the rest of those double faced morons. But I would never wish for someone to kill them.If somebody were to kill them I would be outraged and I would protest....

Purely amazing.

Spoon wrote:Congrats Taliban sucka's. You just murdered 4 people (And one worthless rat) and didn't achieved your objective. You all fail.

I hope the dumb ass is enjoying his "72 virgins" right now.

Mechanurgist wrote:Maybe some of you folks should be rooting against the guys who are blowing up innocent Afghans and targetting elected officials...if this was happening in your home town you wouldn't be so flippant about it. You may not like Cheney but he's a democrat and he's doing his best to protect the republic, whereas the terrorists killing women and kids at random are truly evil scumbags.